Carpe Diem (Seize The Day)
by scribb1es
Summary: Mariana gave her a sad smile and held one of her hands between hers, "I know, but you don't have to keep creating these tragic love stories. Tell her how you feel. Do you know if she likes you back?" / Mariana gives Callie the boost she needs to tell Ximena how she feels. A Callie/Ximena one-shot based on promos for the final season finale.


**Back with yet _another_ one-shot...**

 **Chapter 5 of Serendipity is in the works. Hoping to post it before tomorrow's finale... Quick reminder that Ximena would wait forever for Callie :))))**

 **This is based off one of the sneak peek promos for the finale where Callie and Mariana are talking and Mariana tells Callie she doesn't have to keep creating tragic love stories. I know in reality she's talking about Aaron but this would've been better.**

 **Hope you enjoy! Please review and feel free to leave any requests! I promise I will try to get round to any you've already given me.**

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Callie slumped down on her bed with a heavy sigh, her younger sister looking up from her laptop at her arrival. The teenager lowered to lid of her computer, leaving it half closed as she put it to the side and removed her glasses, which she promptly placed on her bedside table.

"Why the huffing and puffing?" She called out to her sister, who promptly turned her head to look at her. She let out another sigh.

"Nothing. It's not a big deal," she waved off.

The Latina got up from her bed and closed their door, moving over to sit on the edge of her sister's bed. She tapped the back of her legs, asking her to sit up. The older girl complied and sat cross legged next to her sister.

"Come on. Talk to me," Mariana urged, "what's going on? Boy troubles?"

Callie snorted. She shook her head and looked her at her hands in her lap. Her sister gave her a knowing smile, "so it _is_? I totally knew it. It's Aaron isn't it? I know it is. Don't even try to hide it."

"No," the older girl laughed, "it's not that. It's nothing."

"Oh _please,_ " her sister retorted, waving her off, "you're an awful liar. And I know boy troubles when I see them. So, what's the jig? He seeing someone else? He wants to get back together? Oh! He _kissed_ you?"

Callie let her sister drone on for a while before she had enough, "Mari, stop. No. It's nothing like that. Not really. I don't want to talk about it."

The younger sibling stopped, looking over at her older sister to see her playing with her hands. A typical avoidance tactic of hers. She sighed and took one of her hands. Callie carried on looking at her lap for a moment before she made eye contact with the younger girl before quickly looking away and towards the door, head in her hand that rested on her knee. She let out a defeated sigh as she played with a frayed piece of cotton on her jeans.

"Cal, seriously? What's going on? You can talk to me," the Latina urged, trying to get her sister to talk. She hated when the brunette clammed up on her, knowing it must be something she was really struggling with. They talk about everything together now, told each other their darkest secrets. They weren't just sisters, they were best friends, and Mariana didn't like that her best friend was keeping something from her.

"I told you. It's nothing," Callie mumbled, "I don't want to talk about it."

The older girl got up and walked into the bathroom off their room, standing with her hands on the rim of the sink and looking at herself in the mirror. Mariana followed her, leaning in the wall next to the door with her arms crossed. Callie looked round.

"You can't just avoid whatever this is and think it's all just going to go away," her sister spoke, "and you know that. We all know that."

The older girl looked at her a few seconds before turning away and looking down towards the sink. She grabbed a hairbrush and began combing her hair, ignoring her sister. Growing impatient, the younger sister walked over and took the brush from her hand, placing it back on the side, holding the edge of the counter with one hand as the other moves to her hip. Callie tried to move past, but she stopped her.

"Mariana," the brunette warned, her lips tight, "I said I don't want to talk about it so just leave me alone."

"No," the girl stood her ground, "we are going to talk about it. And we are going to talk about it now."

The eldest girl looked her in the eyes for a moment before she sighed in defeat. There was no way she was getting out of this. She may be stubborn, but so was her sister, and, quite frankly, she couldn't be bothered with the conflict.

"Okay. Yes. Aaron's seeing someone else," she began, her sister about to tell her she told her so, "but that's not the problem. I said it was fine. I told him I wasn't ready to get back together yet and I can't expect him to wait for it to be that time."

"You can still be upset," Mariana argued.

"I know," Callie agreed, "but it's not that. I can't get back together with him because... I think I like someone else."

As the Latina's eyes widened in shock, the brunette took advantage of her state and walked past her, back into her room. The younger girl followed behind her.

"You like someone else? Who? Is he hot?" Mariana teased. The older girl sighed again.

"Mari. _Stop_ ," she strained, starting to get irritated, "I told you enough. Can you stop poking your nose into everyone's business for once?"

Her sister looked hurt for a second before she recovered, arguing back, "you told me nothing, Callie. Why can't you just talk to people for once? Let them help you?!"

"Because it's not that easy!" The older girl cried, "you don't understand. You don't _get it._ I like _her_! Her. Not him, her!"

Mariana was once again speechless, staring her sister in shook, a dumbfounded look on her face. Her sister had a crush on a girl? Why had she never told her she was gay? Or bisexual, or pansexual, or however she identified? It's not like she would care. She was practically brought up by two lesbians anyway, and her youngest brother was also gay. Callie's biological brother was gay, so why would she think she had to hide this from anyone?

"Why didn't you say you were into girls? You know no one in the house would care," the Latina finally asked, receiving another scoff from her sister.

"Like I said, it's not that easy," Callie countered, "it's not just something you can come out with. Especially when you don't understand yourself. It's scary, Mari. I was scared. I _am_ scared."

Mariana's heart broke at her sister's confession. She hated hearing how terrified she was. How beaten down. All her frustration was suddenly gone, and all she wanted to do was wrap her sister in a hug as she watched her begun to cry silently. She saw a tear drop fall down her cheek and off her chin, hitting her jeans. Instantly, she rushed over, wrapping her arms around her sister and pulling her into her side in a tight hug.

"Oh, Cal. Why are you scared? You don't have to be scared," the girl tried to reassure her, but the older girl continued to cry and sniffle.

"I remember when I had my first crush on a girl," the brunette began, "I wrote about it in my journal. Invited her round, and we would hold hands around the house. It was only our second home. I thought we were safe then. Jude was 9 and I was 12. But we weren't safe. We weren't."

The younger sister's heart thumped in her chest. She was sure she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear. It was no secret to anyone that the eldest girl and her brother had been through hell and back in the system, but this may be a story none of them had heard. Callie had mentioned house number 2 involved an abusive foster father, but never explained why. She just said they didn't like her.

"My foster father would watch us when she was around. See us holding hands," she continued, "he was definitely suspicious. He read my diary one day when I left it in the kitchen and stormed into my room. He was so angry. His face was red. He walked in as we kissed and made her go home. We never spoke again after that, but he hit me. Kept hitting me. He said he was going to beat it out of me. I never had a crush on a girl after that. I was too scared. Until now. I really like her, Mari, and I'm terrified. What do I do?"

Upon hearing the shocking story, Mariana twisted her body so that her sister's head was now laid against her chest. She held her tightly as she cried, snapping her own eyes shut. Did that explain why Callie seemed to want to closet Jude when they first came to stay with them?

Everyone thought it was just because she thought they weren't staying there and didn't want him to get comfortable around them. At least that's what Callie had said at the time — that not everyone was as accepting as the Fosters were. Someone had obviously caused her to be cautious about what her and her brother showed about themselves to others, but the family hasn't realised it has been so personal. That Callie herself had been attacked for being different. So why hadn't Jude hidden it? Had he known? The Latina was sure she already knew the answer to that. Of course he didn't. Callie tried to protect him from everything she could, and this was surely just another one of those incidents. He hadn't known truly what happened with Liam until it all came back up again. He just knew Liam had hurt Callie in some way. He had only been 11 at the time, so his sister had spared him the details. Decided he was too young to understand. Too young to have his innocence tainted. If this had happened in the second house, he couldn't have been much older than 8. There was no way he knew.

Mariana opened her eyes and sighed as she brought herself back to the real world, her sister still crying in her arms. Her previous cries had quietened, now barely a sniffle. She looked down at her sister as they pulled apart. Callie wiped at her eyes.

"You don't have to be scared, sis," the younger sister spoke softly, "you know you're safe here with us. I'm sorry that happened to you."

"I know," the older girl whispered, tears beginning to pool in her deep brown eyes again, "I know I'm safe. That's not why I'm scared. I forgot what it's like to feel like this. It's confusing. It's scary."

Mariana gave her a sad smile and held one of her hands between hers, "I know, but you don't have to keep creating these tragic love stories. Tell her how you feel. Do you know if she likes you back?"

The brunette laughed slightly, "well considering she's the one who kissed me, I would think so."

"Oh my god! What?!" Mariana cried, jumping off the bed in shock, "she kissed you?! When? What? How? Who?"

Her sister looked at her for a second as she tried to work out who it may be that her sister had a crush on. After a few moments her eyes bulged wide. How could she have been so stupid? It was pretty obvious.

"Ximena? Ximena kissed you?! When?" She beamed.

"In the church. After the rally," Callie laughed, all her previous worries dissipated. Seeing her younger sister so giddy was making her smile.

"Oh my god! In a _church_? That's ironic," Mariana smiled as Callie nodded, laughing at the irony, "but that was like three weeks ago. Go tell her you like her!"

The eldest sister was about to protest when she was dragged off the bad by both her arms, her sister pushing her lightly out their bedroom door, "go! _Go_!"

Realising her sister wasn't going to give in, the older girl sighed and walked down the stairs. She wasn't even sure if Ximena was here at the moment. She has been catching up on a lot of her art work since being out of the church.

Behind her, she heard her sister following her down the stairs as is she was following her to see if she followed through. She smiled and shook her head. Trust Mariana to be the matchmaker.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, she looked around. She spotted her Moms by the sink preparing dinner and Jesus in the living room with Emma under his arm. They were cuddled on the couch watching TV, Poppy also with them on the armchair. But there was no sign of Ximena.

She turned around to her sister, opening her mouth to tell her she didn't think she was home, when the girl pointed to the kitchen window. The artist was just walking out of the little house in the garden where her and her sister were staying, looking down at her phone.

Callie took a deep breath, nervousness beginning to bubble in her chest. She could do this. It was now or never. Letting out the breath, she walked through the kitchen and out the backdoor, her Moms looking up at the sound of her footsteps. They watched her walk across the yard.

Ximena looked up as she heard the door open, spotting her friend walking towards her. She smiled, going to great her, "hey Cal. I—"

She was interrupted as the younger girl grabbed the sides of her face, crashing her lips against hers. After the momentary shock passed, she leant in, her hands finding the girls waist to pull them closer, her eyes closing shut. They continued to kiss for a few moments before pulling away, slightly out of breath. Their foreheads touched as they looked into each other's eyes.

"I really like you," Callie smiled.

"I really like you, too," Ximena smirked, pulling her in for another kiss, neither girl caring about the audience they were pretty sure had piled up at the window. They finally had each other.


End file.
